Lime
by Kurumaka
Summary: He could've sworn he had seen this man before. But Guertena didn't paint real people, did he? [SKYLOX/IB CROSSOVER FOR ONE OF MY SENPAIS]


"G-go on ahead…" Sky wheezed, leaning heavily onto the wall.

Ty turned around, his eyes widening as Sky slid down, clutching his midsection.

"Yeah, I'll catch up to you in a second," Sky smiled, though it wasn't very convincing. With a sad look, Ty turned around and sped off, clutching his green rose in his hand.

He ran up the stairs, coming face to face with a door, throughoutly blocked by vines growing seemingly from the ground. The hallway continued on, but the blocked door had captured Ty's attention.

He tried prying it open, tried moving the vines out of the way, but to no avail. They wouldn't budge no matter how hard Ty pulled.

They weren't even real, instead seemed to be made out of very hard and durable paper. Ty's first idea was to burn it down.

"Sky had a lighter, didn't he?" he mumbled to himself, running back down the stairs.

Sky was still slumped by the wall with his eyes closed. Ty kneeled next to him, shaking him awake.

"Sky, hey Sky! Can I borrow your lighter?" he asked.

Sky let out a pained groan, shutting his eyes tighter. Ty rummaged through his pockets, pulling out the shiny metal lighter.

"Thanks, I'll be right back!" he promised, going up the stairs yet again.

"Here goes nothing," he muttered as he lit the bottom of the vines on fire.

To his great surprise, the whole thing burst into flames, darkened paper and ash falling to his feet in the matter of seconds.

The door looked undamaged, through, and free for Ty to push open.

Behind it was a small room, with piles upon piles of toys scattered around the floor. A sketchbook and its pages laid everywhere, covered with countless doodles. There were even some of himself and Sky, making him shudder.

On the far wall hung a blank painting, just a background, like there was someone supposed to be there.

Ty stepped up to it, being extra careful not to step on any toys, especially on the blue dolls that seemed to be _everywhere_.

A nameplate was glued to the wall underneath the painting. It simply read 'Jason'.

"What are you doing in here?!"

Ty turned around, facing Jason, who was holding onto a palette knife tightly, his wild brunet hair even more disheveled. His expression was one of panic as he took slow steps towards Ty.

"Get away from that painting!" he shouted.

Ty backed away from him, his back soon hitting the wall and the frame of the painting. He gasped, wide eyes watching as Jason came closer.

"You know, the rose said you love me!" Jason said in an overly cheery voice, an unnaturally wide smile spreading over his face. "Let's go – we can go through the paining and be together forever!"

Ty gripped the lighter tightly, an idea parking in his mind. He turned around and lit the edge of the painting. "Wha-"

Just like the vines did earlier, the whole painting burned down in a few seconds, accompanied by Jason's ear-piercing scream. Ty turned around just in time to see the once boy burst in flames and fall down in a shower of ashes.

Ty, relieved and heavily panting, hurried out of the room, smelling strongly of smoke now, and down the stairs to get Sky and finally get _out_.

He kneeled down next to Sky, shaking him awake again.

"Come on, Sky!" he panted, "Let's get out of here! Jason's gone!" Ty continued, tears leaking into his eyes.

Sky didn't move. He laid limp on the ground, in his weird position, with an arm draped over his stomach.

Ty's tears broke free, flowing down his cheeks in streams. Sniffling, he gently set the metal lighter into one of Sky's hands.

"Jason did say _the rose told him I loved him_. That was your rose, wasn't it?" he sobbed uncontrollably, shoulders shaking.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I was too late," he whispered, trying – and failing – to wipe the tears off of his face.

He stood up, giving Sky one last tear-filled, and look and trudged softly up the stairs.

One of the blue dolls sat atop the staircase, a writing in red color scrawled on the wall. 'The hallway on the right,' it read.

"Thanks," he mumbled sarcastically as he passed the doll.

He continued down the hallway, casting a fleeting glance into Jason's room. Everything seemed so unreal, just like the first time.

He rounded a corner, the gallery taking its shape in front of him. The lights were off and everything seems exactly like the time when he stepped into the painting on the floor.

He just passed it, actually. It was normal again, no sign of any footprints on the shiny floor.

He turned left, snapping his head away from the beautiful sculpture of a golden rose sitting in its place behind the safety bars.

He passed a few paintings, until he finally faced the giant painting that had started this whole madness.

He reached out, running his fingertips over the oil paint on the canvas. The frame rounding the painting disappeared with a bright flash of light, leaving just the canvas hanging on the wall.

The gallery in the painting looked like the real one, bright and clean, devoid of women crawling on the floor and hanging halfway out off of their frames and headless statues roaming the hallways.

With a shaky sigh, Ty took a few steps back. He charged head first into the picture, closing his eyes.

He blinked.

He was facing a blank, white wall.

Did he blank out?

He tried remembering what he was doing, but his mind was empty, and nothing came to him.

Shaking it off, he continued looking through the gallery, walking aimlessly through the halls and looking over the paintings. He stuck his hands into his jeans' pockets, brushing against his keys and something else, a small thing wrapped in plastic.

He pulled the thing out, looking down at it. It was a lime hard candy.

_Where did he get this?_

Shrugging, he unwrapped the candy, not wanting to pass the opportunity and shoved it into his mouth. He threw the wrapper into the nearest bin, continuing his journey.

'These paintings all have weird names,' he thought absentmindedly. He went through some of the names: Horizon view, The Sky seen from Hell, The Lady in Red, Misshapen Diamond, Worry, Couplet towers, Forgotten portrait.

Forgotten portrait.

He stopped, the name catching his attention. His eyes trailed upwards to the painting. It was a portrait of a young brunet man, holding a golden rose to his chest, the color matching his eyes, which seemed to stare right through him over the dark sunglasses painted into his nose.

Ty choked on the candy in his mouth. He could've sworn he had seen this man before.

_But Guertena didn't paint real people, did he?_

He could feel something wet on his cheek, raising a hand to touch his skin. He could feel hot tears streaming down his face.

_Why was he crying?_

Shaking his head and wiping his face, he turned, deciding that was enough art for him for now.

The taste of lime candy lingered on his tongue as he exited the gallery.


End file.
